Korean Films at the 56th BFI London Film Festival

After a pretty dry couple of years for Korean film at the BFI London Film Festival, this year there’s a feast. Book your tickets now.

Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time (범죄와의 전쟁: 나쁜놈들 전성시대, 2012)

Director-Screenwriter: Yoon Jongbin
Producer: Park Shinkyu, Han Jaeduk
With: Choi Minsik, Ha Jeongwoo, Jo Jinwoong
133 mins

Yoon Jongbin’s powerhouse entertainment (#1 at the Korean box-office this year) charts the rise of a corrupt customs officer through protection racketeering and casino management to the moment when thieves fall out.

VUE, Screen 5: Oct 11, 2012 8:45 PM
Rich Mix, Screen 1: Oct 13, 2012 3:30 PM
Screen on the Green: Oct 14, 2012 6:15 PM

Further details / book tickets

In Another Country (다른 나라에서, 2012)

Director-Screenwriter: Hong Sangsoo
Producer: Kim Kyounghee
With: Isabelle Huppert, Yu Junsang, Jung Yumi
89 mins

Hong Sangsoo plus Isabelle Huppert plus Yu Junsang equals three separate – but oddly overlapping – stories about a Frenchwoman visiting a dull Korean seaside resort.
Ciné Lumière: Oct 15, 2012 6:30 PM
VUE, Screen 7: Oct 17, 2012 12:45 PM

Further details / book tickets

Doomsday Book (인류멸망보고서, 2012)

Director-Screenwriter: Kim Jee-woon, Yim Pil-sung
Producer: Oh Young-hoon
With: Ryoo Seung-bum, Kim Kang-woo, Song Sae-byeok
120 mins

A South Korean anthology film with three sci-fi tales united by disparate themes of the apocalypse.
BFI Southbank, NFT1: Oct 11, 2012 12:15 PM
BFI Southbank, NFT2: Oct 14, 2012 8:45 PM

Further details / book tickets

A Fish 3D (물고기, 2011)

Director-Screenwriter: Park Hongmin
Producer: Choi Sungwon
With: Lee Janghoon, Kim Sunbin, Choi Soeun
97 mins

An absconding wife is becoming a shaman and her devastated husband thinks he’s losing his mind in Park Hongmin’s phenomenal mystery thriller, shot in perfect, homemade 3-D. The latest wave in Korean cinema starts here.

VUE, Screen 5: Oct 11, 2012 6:15 PM
VUE, Screen 5: Oct 12, 2012 3:15 PM
Hackney Picturehouse, Screen 1: Oct 13, 2012 8:30 PM

Further details / book tickets

Helpless (화차, 2011)

Director-Screenwriter: Byun Youngjoo
Producer: Shin Hye-eun, Oh Kimin
With: Lee Sunkyun, Kim Minhee, Cho Seongha
117 mins

Byun Youngjoo adapts Miyabe Miyuki’s famous novel Burning Train to Korea and does it proud: when a young woman disappears suddenly, her fiancé launches a desperate search – and makes some shocking discoveries.

Screen on the Green: Oct 12, 2012 6:30 PM
VUE, Screen 7: Oct 15, 2012 6:15 PM
Rich Mix, Screen 1: Oct 19, 2012 6:30 PM

Further details / book tickets

Romance Joe (로맨스 조, 2011)

Director-Screenwriter: Lee Kwangkuk
Producer: Yim Soonrye
With: Kim Youngpil, Shin Dongmi, Lee Chai-eun
115 mins

The story of Romance Joe, the guy who almost died for love, is just one of half a dozen interlinked strands which run through Lee Kwangkuk’s playful movie.

Ritzy, Screen 2 Oct 17, 2012 8:45 PM
BFI Southbank, NFT1 Oct 19, 2012 12:45 PM
BFI Southbank, NFT2 Oct 20, 2012 8:30 PM

Further details / book tickets

(automatically generated) Read LKL’s review of this event here.